A question of sound...


What do you think?

  • I can't see why not..

    Votes: 13 86.7%

  • You gotta be kiddin me!

    Votes: 2 13.3%
  • Total voters
    15
  • Poll closed .
Scordicus

Scordicus

Member
I was going to post this in the DCC section, but I think it is kind of relevant for almost everyone's opinion..

I have a couple of Soundtraxx sound only decoders, Alco prime mover ones to be precise.. I know these are a few years old as I've had them sitting in a box for nearly two years, one of those jobs to get round too after the loco resprays lol.. I know sound decoders have moved on greatly in the last few years, but even still, I'm reluctant to get rid of these as I would never get my money back on them..

So my question is this.. I was thinking of putting these two sound decoders in to a pair of Baldwin S-12's that I have(remember, their Alco decoders), do you think that people in general (not the purists or those belonging to preservation societies) would notice the sound difference?? Do people generally really know one diesel engine sound from the next??

Now I know it's my layout, my rules, but is it stretching the artistic licence a tad too far??

I'd be interested to hear peoples opinions...
 
Rule 1 is always "It's your railroad" Please yourself. Baldwin engines were always pretty distinctive. Cabbage cutters ;) Got any Alco's to put them in?
 
Depends on the road name, you can always say the units were repowered should anyone notice.
I for one have no idea what a Baldwin sounds like, other than Alec or the piano!
 
Just looking at your signature ... and trying to make up my mind :D

I for one wouldn't be able to tell if you put a Baldwin in an Alco - I'd be lucky to differentiate between steam and diesel ;)
 
Espeefan said:
Got any Alco's to put them in?
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That's the thing.. I do but I only have one & I don't plan on buying another, I ended up with two decoders after one got lost & then subsequently found.. I suppose if I did buy another one sometime in the future, I could do some decoder swapping..

ianacole said:
Just looking at your signature ... and trying to make up my mind :D
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lol.. I'll tell you what that's about briefly (going totally off topic lol), the difference I believe between a good railroad & a great one is simply a matter of the small details, for example, don't install poles unless your going to install the wires as well, also make roads & vehicles dirty with a bit of chalk/weathering powder, too many people miss these silly little things..
It's all in the details! lol...
 
your railroad had a coupe decent baldwins that needed power, a couple junk alcos that were ready for scrap, but the power were still good, had time left. cant see much wrong with that.
 
Are the S12's going to be externally modified in any way? A quick and sort of dirty way to get away with this would be to remove the Baldwin exhaust stack(s) and install one from, say, an ALCo RS3. Your credibility and believability would go way up.
And yes, I can tell the sound difference between a 539, 244, 251 and 608A.
 
Which decoders are they? (Tsunami, LC, etc.) Which ALCo prime mover? There isn't anything out there you would want to put them in?
 
In my experience probably 90% of today's hobbyists cannot actually recognize the difference between the sound of one specific diesel and another. As long as the sound sounds like a diesel, you are pretty safe.

NYW&B
 
Unless you're posting videos on the internet or inviting over a bunch of the really hardcore model railroad types (Yes, you know who you are), you'll most likely be the only one who would know. And that would be your dirty little secret. Go for it!
 
wright2626 said:
your railroad had a coupe decent baldwins that needed power, a couple junk alcos that were ready for scrap, but the power were still good, had time left. cant see much wrong with that.
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Good idea! Always good to have a back story..

bnsf971 said:
Are the S12's going to be externally modified in any way? A quick and sort of dirty way to get away with this would be to remove the Baldwin exhaust stack(s) and install one from, say, an ALCo RS3. Your credibility and believability would go way up.
Click to expand...
Yes they will be, I'm modelling a present day shortline, it's entire fleet is/will be made up of second hand repainted and patched rolling stock mainly Geeps but I do like the S-12's, so that's a great idea, thank you..

ICG/SOU said:
Which decoders are they? (Tsunami, LC, etc.) Which ALCo prime mover? There isn't anything out there you would want to put them in?
Click to expand...
They are Soundtraxx DSX825213 Alco 1st Gen Prime mover w/Nathan K3, sound only decoders.

I only have one quite old center cab Alco loco made by Stewart that I bought about 8-9 years ago but I can't see me getting a second especially as they are no longer trading & the quality of today's models is far superior..
 
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